Support stand

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to a support stand which is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble. The support stand comprises at least two support legs and a top member. The support legs have a lower end for supporting the stand on a surface and an upper end having means for engaging and supporting the top member. The support legs are releasably connected to one another to properly space the engaging means from one another. The top member is provided with a receiving means for releasably receiving the engaging means of the support leg to releasably secure and support the top member on the support legs.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a novel, easy to construct and easy to assemble support stand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] There are many different types of support stands in common use, such as tables, benches, display racks, or support stands for holding tools, workpieces or other structures which must be supported. Many such support stands are constructed of a plurality of different shaped pieces, each of which must be manufactured separately and then assembled for the final support stand. The use of this plurality of pieces, each requiring a separate manufacturing step, increases the cost of production of the support stand and hence the cost to the final consumer.

[0003] There has been increased interest in recent years in the use of knockdown or ready to assemble furniture which allows the user to easily assemble the furniture at the place of use. Such knockdown or ready to assemble furniture is less costly for the consumer as they are not paying for the assembly charges as well as having reduced shipping costs due to the reduced size of the shipping containers holding the furniture. One disadvantage which has been encountered with many designs of ready to assemble furniture is the complexity of the assembly operation. Many designs of such furniture require many steps to assemble the furniture and also may require the use of tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches, hex keys or other tools.

[0004] There thus remains a need for a simple to construct and simple to assemble support stand which offers the benefits of ready to assemble or knockdown furniture without the drawback of the complex assembly steps or the use of tools.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention is directed to a support stand which is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble. The support stand comprises at least two support legs and a top member. The support legs have a lower end for supporting the stand on a surface and an upper end having means for engaging and supporting the top member. The support legs are releasably connected to one another to properly space the engaging means from one another. The top member is provided with a receiving means for releasably receiving the engaging means of the support leg to releasably secure and support the top member on the support legs.

[0006] In an aspect of the invention, there is provided a support stand which is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble, the support stand comprising two support legs and a top member. The support legs have two generally vertical legs having a lower end for supporting the stand on a surface and an upper end having engaging means for engaging and supporting the top member. The two generally vertical legs are connected to one another by a bridging member attached to each of the generally vertical legs intermediate their ends, the bridging member being provided with releasable connecting means to releasably connect the two support legs to one another to properly space the engaging means from one another. The top member is provided with receiving means for releasably receiving the engaging means of the support leg to releasably secure and support the top member on the support legs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the attached drawings in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of a support stand of the present invention;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the top number of the support stand of FIG. 1;

[0010]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a support leg of the support stand of FIG. 1;

[0011]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the support stand of FIG. 1 illustrating the assembly of the support stand; and

[0012]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a support stand of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] A first preferred embodiment of a support stand according to the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The support stand 10 has support legs 12 and a top member 14. The top member 14 provides the top support surface of the support stand 10, as well as providing for the support for the support stand 10 as will be described herein below. As illustrated in further detail in FIG. 2, top member 14 has a top surface 16 which forms the top support surface of the support stand 10 and downwardly extending extensions 18 extending downwardly at opposite edges of the top surface 16. The downwardly extending extensions 18 are provided with receiving means for releasably receiving complementary engaging means of the support legs 12 as will be described in further detail herein below. In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the receiving means are slots 20 provided in the downwardly extending extensions 18.

[0014] A first preferred embodiment of the support legs 12 of the present invention is illustrated in detail in FIG. 3. Support legs 12 have two vertical legs 22 connected to one another by a horizontal bridging member 24. Support legs 22 are provided with generally circular disks 26 at either end which can act at the lower end for supporting the support leg on surface or at the upper end as the means for engaging and supporting the top member as will be described in detail further below. Alternative arrangements of the means for engaging the top surface are possible such as square, octagonal, oval, pins, star, triangle etc. The horizontal bridging member 24 is provided with a means to allow for the two support legs 12 to be releasably connected to one another. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the means to allow the two support legs 12 to be releasably connected to one another is a slot 28 centrally located in the horizontal bridging member 24, the slot 28 having a height equal to ½ the height of the horizontal bridging member 24 and a width equal to the thickness of the horizontal bridging member 24. As illustrated in FIG. 4 the two support legs 12 are releasably connected to one another by arranging the support legs 12 with the horizontal bridging members 24 perpendicular to one another with one of the horizontal members 24 being provided with the slot 28 facing upwardly and the other horizontal member 24 being provided with the slot 28 facing downwardly. The two horizontal bridging members 24 are interconnected by sliding the slots 28 past one another such that the slot 28 of one horizontal bridging member 24 engages the portion of the other horizontal bridging member 24 above the slot 28.

[0015] Once the two support legs 12 are releasably connected to one another, the top member 14 of the support stand 10 is releasably connected to the support legs 12. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the downwardly extending extensions 18 of the top member 14 are able to flex inwardly and outwardly. To attach the top member 14 to the support legs 12, the slots 20 in one downwardly extending extension 18 are engaged with one pair of circular disks 26 at the top of the support legs 12. The other downwardly extending extension 18 is flexed inwardly to allow the lower edge of the downwardly extending extension 18 to pass by the circular disks 26 on the top of the other support legs 12 until the circular disks 26 enter into and engage the slots 20 on the downwardly extending extension 18. In this way the top member 14 is securely yet releasably connected to the support legs 12.

[0016] To disassemble the support stand 10, one of the downwardly extending extensions 18 is flexed inwardly until the circular disks 26 are released from engagement with the slots 20 on the downwardly extending extension 18 at which time the downwardly extending extension 18 may be lifted clear of the support legs 12. The top member 14 is then released from engagement with the support legs 12. The two support legs 12 may then be released from engagement with one another and the entire support stand 10 collapsed down for easy storage and/or shipping.

[0017] The top member 14 is preferably constructed of a material which has the required flex to allow the support stand to be assembled and disassembled in the manner described above, while at the same time, having sufficient strength to allow it to support the required load for the support stand 10. Preferably, the top member 14 is constructed of a fiber reinforced plastic material having the required properties. Alternatively, the top member 14 may be constructed of other materials such as metal or wood which has been bent into the desired shape through commonly employed techniques for bending such materials.

[0018] The support stand illustrated in the attached figures is designed as a stool in which case the top surface is slightly concave to allow for comfortable seating on the stool. The provision of the slightly concave top surface and the downwardly extending extensions provides an added benefit to the support stand when in use. As weight is placed on the top surface, the weight causes the top surface to flex slightly downwardly resulting in the spacing between the ends of the downwardly extending extensions to be increased by flexing outwardly. This in turn causes the slots to be forced into a tighter engagement with the circular disks thereby increasing the engagement between the top member and the support legs.

[0019] The support legs as illustrated in the figures preferably have a generally circular cross-section. The use of the generally circular cross-section makes the support leg simple to manufacture while still aesthetically pleasing. However other cross-sections of the support leg may also be utilized such as for example square, rectangular, oval, hexagonal, octagonal, etc. Similarly, the horizontal bridging support may be provided in other structural arrangements such as the open web illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0020] The support stand of the present invention provides for an easy to assemble and easy to manufacture support stand which may be provided as a ready to assemble or knockdown piece of furniture. This is particularly the case for the embodiments illustrated utilizing only two separately manufactured pieces to form the support stand, one-piece being the top member and the other piece being the support leg. As illustrated in the preferred embodiments, two such support legs are joined together and one top member is utilized to form the top surface of the support stand. As the support stand is also easy to disassemble it is of particular use in locations where space may be at a premium. In such situations when the support stand is not needed it is quickly disassembled and may be stored away for later use.

[0021] Although various preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. 

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A support stand which is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble, the support stand comprising at least two support legs and a top member, the support legs having a lower end for supporting the stand on a surface and an upper end having means for engaging and supporting the top member, the support legs being releasably connected to one another to properly space the engaging means from one another, the top member being provided with a receiving means for releasably receiving the engaging means of the support leg to releasably secure and support the top member on the support legs.
 2. A support stand according to claim 1 wherein each of the support legs comprise two generally vertical legs connected together by a generally horizontal bridging member.
 3. A support stand according to claim 2 wherein the means for engaging and supporting the top member is a circular disk provided on the upper end of each of the vertical legs.
 4. A support stand according to claim 3 wherein the horizontal bridging member is provided with a generally centrally located slot to allow the horizontal bridging member of one support leg to releasably connect to the horizontal bridging member of another support leg.
 5. A support stand according to claim 4 wherein the top member has a top surface and downward by extending extensions extending downwardly from opposite edges of the top surface.
 6. A support stand according to claim 5 wherein the downwardly extending extensions are provided with slots to releasably engage the circular disks on the upper end of the support legs.
 7. A support stand which is economical to manufacture and simple to assemble, the support stand comprising two support legs and a top member, the support legs having two generally vertical legs having a lower end for supporting the stand on a surface and an upper end having engaging means for engaging and supporting the top member, the two generally vertical legs being connected to one another by a bridging member attached to each of the generally vertical legs intermediate their ends, the bridging member being provided with releasable connecting means to releasably connect the two support legs to one another to properly space the engaging means from one another, the top member being provided with receiving means for releasably receiving the engaging means of the support leg to releasably secure and support the top member on the support legs.
 8. A support stand according to claim 7 wherein each of the support legs comprise two generally vertical legs connected together by a generally horizontal bridging member.
 9. A support stand according to claim 8 wherein the means for engaging and supporting the top member is a circular disk provided on the upper end of each of the vertical legs.
 10. A support stand according to claim 9 wherein the horizontal bridging member is provided with a generally centrally located slot to allow the horizontal bridging member of one support leg to releasably connect to the horizontal bridging member of another support leg.
 11. A support stand according to claim 10 wherein the top member has a top surface and downward by extending extensions extending downwardly from opposite edges of the top surface.
 12. A support stand according to claim 11 wherein the downwardly extending extensions are provided with slots to releasably engage the circular disks on the upper end of the support legs. 